Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth

by Avi Loeb

Is life here on Earth the only life in the universe? Are humans the only sentient intelligence in the vastness of space and time?

humans are woefully ill prepared for an encounter with an extraterrestrial counterpart.

It is commonly thought that life is a collection of the places you visit. But this is an illusion. Life is a collection of events, and these are the results of choices, only some of which are ours to make.

I have also found that staring out into the vastness of space, contemplating the start and end of everything, provides a framework for answering, “What is a life worth living?”

Sometimes, by near accident, something exceptionally rare and special crosses your path. Life turns on your seeing clearly what’s in front of you.

If life is common in the universe, he asked, “Where is everybody?”

“The odds are enormous that there must be immense numbers which possess planets whose circumstances would not render life impossible.”